Now Commenting On:

Bogaerts off Twitter after accidental tweet

CHICAGO -- Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts expressed remorse for accidentally tweeting a picture of a woman who wasn't fully dressed, and he noted it was a learning experience.

"It definitely wasn't my intention," said Bogaerts. "Once I found out it was on Twitter, I went and deleted it and also locked my Twitter account. Like I said, once I found out, I had to do the right thing and correct it. But one thing is for sure, I don't want any distraction on the team or for me. Hopefully my main focus can be on baseball."

In an age where social media is everywhere, the Red Sox do take the time to try to educate their players about the pratfalls of it.

"We do," said Red Sox manager John Farrell. "We go through a session in Spring Training every year. This is one of the pitfalls of social media. But I think the most important thing is Xander has acknowledged it and learned from it, and we move on."

Bogaerts wasn't sure how the photo got from his phone to his Twitter account.

"The thing is, I don't even tweet at all," Bogaerts said. "I think my last tweet was probably last year. For me to do a tweet like that was something very unexpected, definitely."

And yes, at 21 years old and with a promising career in front of him, Bogaerts knows he's not immune to making mistakes.

"I mean, no one's perfect," Bogaerts said. "Be a man and just face the situation. As I said, once I found out, I just took it down. I didn't even know it was on there."

Ian Browne is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Brownie Points, and follow him on Twitter @IanMBrowne. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.